Establishing bahia—weed and feed?

flarrfan – posted 21 April 2004 17:28

I have seeded some large bare spots in my west central Fla. St. Augustine lawn with Pensacola bahiagrass. Several other homes in the neighborhood have bahia, and since we are one of the few without an irrigation well, I am hoping bahia will eventually overtake the St. Augustine and save us water, lawn service chemicals and pesticides and be environmentally friendly and relatively low maintenance. In most of the seeded areas, I am getting fairly good germination, and it is now time to fertilize. I have read that weed and feed for bahia should not be used in the early stages of the grass coming up, though I’m not sure why. I have some significant broadleaf weeds in the seeded areas that can’t be dealt with on an individual basis, as they are growing in the midst of young healthy looking grass. Why wouldn’t weed and feed for bahia satisfy my fertilizer needs and deal with my weeds at the same time? What I have read is that the first fertilization should be a basic high-nitro fertilizer. Any ideas on what I should use?

certified-in-florida – posted 01 May 2004 19:23

Hi,

The reason for not using weed and feed is that it will damage the new seedlings. A general rule of thumb – no weed control in the grass until it has been cut at least 4 times.

As for the weeds already there, all I can suggest for now is to pull what you can.

As for the Bahia overtaking the St. Augustine, I would be very surprised. St. Aug. is a very aggressive grass, and will generally crowd out Bahia. I hope you prove me wrong!

Good luck.